


This Thing In My Chest

by LaurytheLatrator



Category: Syberia
Genre: Gen, they're in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 02:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13778151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaurytheLatrator/pseuds/LaurytheLatrator
Summary: “Would you have preferred my personality be… less loveable?”A tiny ficlet for the rarest of rarepairs, but an old OTP of mine.





	This Thing In My Chest

 

 

“You’re far too cavalier about your own safety, Oscar,” Kate Walker chided her automaton friend. Her hands were a firm grip upon his dislocated arm, which she was aiding in repairing under his guidance.

“The task was necessary, Kate Walker,” Oscar replied in his blithest tone. Together the joint popped into its proper place, eliciting a cringe upon Kate’s face that Oscar could not relate to. “We can be grateful the damage was minimal this time. You are unlikely to find more XZ2000 models on the journey ahead.”

Kate blinked at him, her mouth screwing up into a frown. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“If I become damaged irreparably—”

“Stop,” Kate held up her hand, and his voice sputtered to a halt. “You’re not going to be damaged, especially if you take my advice and stop putting yourself at risk. Just because you can’t feel pain, it doesn’t mean you have to do every dangerous job. You’re not indestructible, and you’re certainly not replaceable.” Then, with a glint in her eye, she tossed her head and added, “But you can believe I will keep going back to Baranour for parts so long as I can. I won’t let anything happen to you again, Oscar, I promise.”

“You do not have to promise that, Kate Walker. I understand my purpose, and I wish to be utilized as best I can.”

Kate scoffed, decidedly peeved. “Your purpose. How can you even bring that up? As if I could forget.”

With a whirring noise, Oscar cocked his head curiously.

“I was so angry,” Kate confessed, “It took me so much time to forgive him.”

Oscar imagined he could feel his gears lurch in confusion. “Him? Do you mean Hans Voralberg?”

“Yes. I know it’s unfair, but so is making a man so loveable, only to rip him away from me.” When he didn’t reply right away, a small hint of a smile crept upon her face. “You, Oscar, I’m talking about you.”

“Would you have preferred my personality be… less loveable?” Even though he asked, Oscar had no concept of what that quality could mean. Kate appeared to, as she shook her head.

“That’s like asking if I’d never met you at all. Of course that’s not true.” She raised her hand to touch the space between her breasts, and startled at the absence of something. Letting out a self-conscious laugh, she instead pressed her hand to the front of his chest, right beneath his serial number. “I forgot, I carried it for so long. I forgot it’s in its rightful place.”

Confused, Oscar repeated, “Carried it? My internal computer?”

There was a faint blush on Kate Walker’s cheeks, but she didn’t move her hand, kept her gaze upon his chest. “On a necklace. For months. Silly, I know, but… So often touching it would make me feel… close to you.”

There was a feeling being produced by said computer that he could not identify. It was an approximation of gratitude and contentment stronger than he could recall experiencing. His emotional adaptations were in response to external stimuli, coded to ensure self-preservation, for the sake of the train. With only one automaton capable of driving the train, his self-preservation coding had to be strong, or else the Voralbergs would never reach Syberia.

This emotional response was different in its intensity, but, he realized upon reflection, not new. Since they began their journey, Kate Walker induced several emotional responses in him. Prominent was impatience, as he was dependent on her to keep the train moving. However, there was this contentment, this feeling of safety, trust, and something beyond his understanding. He recalled it strongly after she promised to return his stolen hands, yet perhaps it began as early as her assembling his feet. Oscar wondered at this “Kate Walker” emotion, at what a human would make of it.

However, these internal processes took time, and as Oscar finished this line of thinking, he noticed that Kate had backed up a step, shifting uneasily. “Apologies, Kate Walker,” He began, “I,” He hesitated, “I did not know what to say.”

“No, it’s,” She shuffled a bit on her feet, “You don’t need to say anything. I, that is, my… You just take better care of yourself, alright Oscar? I need you,” She took a breath, and finished quickly, “In one piece.”

Awkwardly, with slow jerks of motion, Oscar raised his arm so he could mimic her earlier gesture. Kate let out a soft gasp as he touched the space above her heart.

“And I need you,” He told her, “Kate Walker.”

 


End file.
